In the Mediterranean: Leisure and Landscapes, Crisis and Conflict

In the Mediterranean: Leisure and Landscapes, Crisis and Conflict

By John OtisAug. 31, 2016Aug. 31, 2016

Coincidence is a hallmark of Nick Hannes’s work, even though he isn’t always sure how, where or even if it will manifest.

In 2010, his fascination with the Mediterranean — a swath of countries also referred to as the Cradle of Civilization — turned into a four-year project. Mr. Hannes, who lives in Belgium, took 20 trips through the region, photographing life in Spain, Egypt, Turkey, France and Greece, and many other destinations.

“Maybe I’m a bit greedy,” he said. “I want to photograph whatever fascinates me. In the end, this was a big challenge. I had to find a way to bring it all together and make a story out of it.”

His eye for coincidence made him link a number of themes across the region — migration, mass tourism, urban sprawl — transforming their impact on the coastal topography into the backbone of his project.

“It might seem a bit fragmented, but I think it makes sense to touch all these different aspects and show the diversity and the contrast of the region, rather than focus on one single topic,” Mr. Hannes said.

His work has been published in “Mediterranean: The Continuity of Man.” Many photos depict leisure or landscapes, ranging from oceanfront homes to wedding guests in Greece celebrating at a gas station. These images may belie the serious problems facing the region. But if you look closer at his work, specifically at his beach photos, slightly disturbing details often emerge.

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African immigrants at the CETI Temporary Center for Immigrants in the Spanish enclave of Ceuta, bordered by Morocco and the Mediterranean. Jan. 10, 2011.Credit Nick Hannes/Cosmos Photo

“There is an industrial site in the background,” he said. “Or the people on the beach are not tourists, but migrants that just arrived to Lampedusa. In most of the pictures, there is a second layer with a political, social context, especially in combination with other pictures.”

Although Mr. Hannes was in the Mediterranean at a time of political, economic and social upheaval, he felt it was important to get away from a photojournalistic approach, even in his more serious photographs.

“Making a documentary work over longer periods, you have to think about which pictures will still stand out,” he said. “I wanted to make more timeless portraits, not based on events.”

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A merry-go-round in the northern Gaza town of Beit Lahiya, a scene of intense fighting between Israel and Hamas. May 28, 2014.Credit Nick Hannes/Cosmos Photo

Elements of the Arab Spring’s uprising are evident in his work from Libya — roadblocks, barbed wire in the streets — but there are no images of young revolutionaries. Likewise, he took photographs of fences and migrant boats without spotlighting individual refugees or their stories, forcing a metaphorical interpretation of his work.

“It’s more about ourselves, our society, how we try to keep them out with fences,” he explained.

Despite his personal passions and concerns, Mr. Hannes insists he does not want to be moralistic or propagandistic in his work, although he did offer an insight into the title of his book and the paradox inherent in it. The Mediterranean had long been a place of cultural cross-pollination, where vast exchanges of knowledge occurred. Nowadays, he said, it is divided and unstable, the region comparable to a series of fault lines, splitting East and West, North and South, Christian and Muslim, Africa and Europe.

“If this is the continuity of man, and you take a closer look at the area, you cannot really call it progress,” he said. “There is trouble and crisis and conflict everywhere.”